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"All
Have Sinned"
Romans 1-3
Introduction
 The
consistent theme, threading its way through the Bible, which gives man
hope is the Divine scheme of redemption. God's eternal planning and purposing
to save men through the death of his Son was a mystery unknown to the
prophets who spoke of the coming Messiah and even to the heavenly principalities
and powers (1 Pet 1:10-12). When it came to pass in the fullness of God's
appointed time, heaven marveled at God's manifold wisdom (Eph 3:9-11).
How God could have fellowship with man was resolved in the reality of
forgiveness by the blood of the cross.
Though
this is a marvelous thesis, I would say to you that God's eternal purpose
in Christ; salvation by grace and the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile
in Christ, etc., do not make an ounce of difference, IF MAN HAS NOT SINNED.
Before, man can appreciate the love of God, the sacrifice of Christ, God's
plan for man to become like him and God's desire to have fellowship with
man in eternity; he must be convinced that he is a sinner! If man is not
convinced of sin, he will never repent and if he will not repent, he can
never have fellowship with God. Furthermore, God's justness in condemning
man must be vindicated lest man, in his self-justification rationale,
fault God for his own degraded condition.
The
theme of Romans is summarized in ch. 1:16-17 - the gospel is God's power
unto salvation for "the Jew first and also for the Greek." Before Paul
could develop the great theme of the gospel as God's answer to man being
made right in the sight of law, he had to justify heaven's condemnation
of man's sin and man's accountability for his transgression. If man has
not violated law, he does not need the gospel. So, Paul devoted the major
part of the first three chapters in Romans to proving that proposition
- a necessary but depressing task. And, if man's story ended there, hopelessness
and futility would crush ever heart's aspiration. The merit of the thesis
that all men have sinned is not found in its nobility but its necessity.
To proving that proposition Paul set himself, and, in proving his own
world guilty also condemned ours - we too are men.
God gave them up…
The
first section of proof is contained in ch. 1:18-32. Though God had revealed
his wrath against all ungodliness and impiety, not all Gentiles were aware
of that verbal revelation. But, God had left himself with abundant proof
in creation itself so that the Gentiles could not blame God for their
degraded condition - they left God -- God gave them up to their vile,
degraded affections. But before Paul wrote Romans, would the sensitive
Gentile not be aware of his condition? And, for those Gentiles who would
never read Romans, who would never acknowledge accountability and transgression
of divine law, Paul affirms heaven's declaration of their sin. The conscious
Gentile could look at creation and be convinced of God's power and God
nature - the potential for that kind of faith is written in creation,
whether or not man ever uses it. Then, the Gentile who lived above the
level of the brute beast, who aspired to more than gratifying selfish,
unbridled lusts, would look about him and be aware that something terrible
was wrong with his world. To the others, nothing Paul said would matter.
In presenting this sweeping denunciation of the people abandoned to their
degraded behavior, God explains how their world got in such a degenerate
mess. A record is preserved for all mankind for all time and God's justness
is vindicated.
Our
own world is looking more and more like that which Paul described. And
based on what Paul said in v. 32, "Who knowing the judgment of God,
that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the
same, but have pleasure in them that do them," I would say that if
we take pleasure in watching sitcoms and soap operas saturated with gross
immorality, God may consider us to be supporters and sharers of their
degeneracy.
To you Jews, Paul said, "If you
condemn others for doing what you do, you condemn yourself."
Ch.
2:1-29 composes the next major section. Some break this context into two
sections with vv. 1-16 condemning the "moralistic Gentile" and
vv. 17-29 judging the Jew. I tend to think that the whole section addresses
the hypocritical Jew for two reasons. The first reason is that the hypocrisy
of the Jews was that for which Christ commonly condemned them during his
ministry (Mt 23:1-39). If chapter two is composed of two different classes
of people, then they share a common problem of pretentiousness. Paul asks
in 2:3, "And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do
such things, and doest the same, that thou shall escape the judgment of
God?" Then in v. 21, he says, "Thou therefore which teachest
another, teachest thou not thyself…?" The second reason is that
Paul has already broadly encompassed all Gentiles as sinners in 1:18-32,
though not all Gentiles would guilty of all the sins mentioned. Similarly,
not all Jews would be hypocritical judges but he broadly covers what was
their typical disposition.
Here
God vindicates himself as the judge of man. His judgment is according
to truth (v. 2). It is righteous (v. 5). And he is totally impartial in
his judgment of men (vv. 6-11). Men will reap what they sow (cf. Gal.
6:7-9) - they will be judged based on how they lived.
Verses
12-15 are, perhaps, the most difficult verses in this section. The line
of argumentation Paul pursues is that men are accountable to law but not
all men have law in the same way. Obviously, the Jews had the law in a
codified form - Moses revealed it and it was written down to be preserved.
The Gentiles did not possess law in that form. However, God affirms that
they are sinners, even without "the law" (of Moses), because
they do by nature the things contained in "the law" (of Moses)
and are, therefore, a law unto themselves (v. 14). Even among people who
do not have revealed law, there is some common consciousness of right
behavior. Paul does not mean that they understand everything that is right
but by some understanding of accepted behavior, they violate that of which
they are conscious as being law and are, thereby, condemned. In this way,
even without revealed law, God is just in condemning them, because there
is a consciousness in their hearts. They become a law unto themselves
and practice both excusing for right behavior and accusing for wrong behavior
(v. 15). (Robert Turner has some good comments on these verses in "Reading
Romans," pp. 121-124.)
Paul
closes this part of necessary charges for sin with a strong denunciation
of the arrogant hypocrisy of the Jew who put his confidence, wrongly,
in the law (vv. 17). He didn't keep it perfectly but he was quick to condemn
others while excusing himself (vv. 17-29). And, if we denounce the world's
depraved condition from the pulpit while being entertained by it in our
recliners, we are just like the hypocritical Jew.
And Paul anticipates the Jew
who would say, "If Jews are sinners just as the Gentiles are, then what
advantage is there to being a Jew?"
Paul
answers simply, "Much in every way," (3:2). The Jews certainly
had an advantage over the Gentiles, because God had entrusted them with
His oracles by which He clearly defined sin. A second anticipated quibble
is "If the Jews unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God,
then is not God unfair to take vengeance upon man?" That kind of
thinking would certainly commend the concept that we should do evil that
good would come. God forbid! Though the Jews had God's oracles and were
a special people they had not proven themselves to be morally superior
to the Gentiles. They committed the same sins and were, thereby, being
justly condemned - God is no respecter of persons.
Paul's
answer opens the door for a series of broad, sweeping declarations of
the condition of all men as sinners -- thereby, defending God's justness.
When God says all men are sinners, he tells the truth and in so affirming
is vindicated in his vengeance upon all men. "There is none righteous,
no not one…none that hath understanding…all have gone astray…none
that doeth good…their throat is an open sepulchre…there is no
fear of God before their eyes," (vv. 10-18). No man has any right
to accuse God or blame God for his sin - each and every man is guilty
of sin, because he chose to violate law.
Law is not the answer.
Since
law breaking has been the totality of man's existence - "all have
sinned" -- perfect law keeping is not the answer to man's fellowship
with God. But God cannot merely pretend that man is not a violator of
law - to do so would be to deny his very just nature. Hence, Paul introduces
how God maintained his justness while justifying lawbreakers. It was through
redemption by Jesus Christ. Man's hope has to be in a savior whose blood
was an atonement for sin. In putting trust in Jesus as "savior"
there is a universal acknowledgement that no man keeps law perfectly and,
if he is going to have fellowship with God, it can only be by the forgiveness
of sins (vv. 19-31).
All
who follow Paul's arguments in Romans 1-3, have to acquiescence to their
own guilt and are prepared in heart to explore with him the gospel as
God's power for salvation to everyone who trusts the savior, Jesus. -
Jim R. Everett
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